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Too busy for a lie-in

Posted October 29, 2013

Last weekend the clocks went back. Yippee - a lie-in! Surely we all took the opportunity to grab that extra hour in bed? Well, no actually.

A recent study revealed that almost half the nation never enjoys a lie-in. Busy lifestyles was the reason cited. Why waste time snoozing in bed when we could be packing more into our already frenetic day?

I’m not one of those people. If I was a car, I’d require a jump start every morning. Yet even I’m beginning to feel I ought to rethink my approach. My excuse is that I work from home and ... Oh! I’ve just realised that it’s now 11.15am and I’m typing this in my pyjamas (enough said). I’m also at an age when - ahem - I have less time ahead of me than behind me.

Anyway, I may as well get up with the rest of you as I’m sure to be woken by either the clatter of the window cleaner’s ladder or someone ringing the doorbell. And ever since ‘the incident’, I can no longer turn over and ignore the doorbell. The one time I decided not to answer it, I had a brick thrown through my patio door.

My caller turned out to be a burglar. Believing there was no-one home, he proceeded to break into the house. I had to admire the burglar’s work ethic though. He was ready to hit the streets (and my patio door, as it turned out) when most people were on their daily commute to work. He’d also dressed suitably for the job, in comfortable joggers and top-notch running shoes - perfect for sprinting away from the crime scene. When I rushed out into the street, I was barefoot and still in my pyjamas.

These days, if it’s not a stranger ringing the doorbell then it’s one of my hyperactive neighbours mowing the lawn, or attempting a bit of exterior DIY, usually on a Sunday, at sparrow’s fart. These neighbours are the very same people who initiate lights out when I’m still chomping my way through my evening meal. Would it be bad form to knock their door then and ask if I can borrow a power drill?

It seems you just can’t get any feckin’ peace for a lie-in these days. Unless ... you live in Northern Ireland. According to the study, people in Northern Ireland enjoy the most lie-ins of all of us. It’s probably no coincidence that Northern Ireland also ranked first in an Office for National Statistics poll as the happiest place to live in the United Kingdom.